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LIVING WORLDClockwork ChaosThe nefarious villain, Scarlet Briar, has made herself known to Tyria! Chaos ensues as she unleashes her clockwork minions across the world!Closing Ceremony

Witness the high point of the Queen’s Jubilee! Attend the ceremony and hear the Queen’s Speech in the Crown Pavilion of Divinity’s Reach. It’s sure to end with a bang.

Clockwork Minions Invade

Scarlet’s clockwork minions are invading entire zones across Tyria.

Watch the World Event UI for new invasions.

All overflow maps created within 10 minutes of the start of the invasion will host a concurrent version of that hour’s event.

Complete additional waves of the invasion for an increasingly lucrative map-wide reward.

Map-wide rewards are limited to once per account, per day, per map. For example, players who claim the map-wide reward for an invasion in the Gendarran Fields will only be able to claim invasion rewards in other maps until the following day.

Complete all waves of an invasion to unlock a bonus battle with Scarlet.

Defeat Scarlet for a daily world-boss reward of two guaranteed rare items.

All possible maps will be invaded at least once per day.

Invasions will not occur in Orr, Southsun Cove, or maps suited for character levels below 25.

After the Clockwork Chaos release, the invasions will continue at a less frequent pace.

Scarlet’s Funhouse

Scarlet has claimed and occupied a prominent structure in Tyria and twisted it into a demented fun house.

Help Emissary Vorpp at the Crown Pavilion reverse-engineer Scarlet’s portal technology to find a way into her fun house.

Defeat Scarlet to restore the fun house to its proper form.

Ongoing Festivities

The Crown Pavilion and Queen’s Gauntlet will close for maintenance on September 3. Look for their return in the future!

Achievements

Two achievement categories have been added to the Living World achievement group:

Clockwork Chaos contains all release-related achievements and the meta-achievement for this release.

Emissary Vorpp’s field assistant contains achievements related to the Living World story for this release. It serves as a guide to completing key achievements in the Clockwork Chaos category.

Completing the Clockwork Chaos meta-achievement awards the player an Infinite Watchknight Tonic. Completing this meta-achievement requires players to complete 18 achievements from either the Clockwork Chaos category or the dailies related to the Clockwork Chaos release.

Exotic Drop

Play Clockwork Chaos content for a chance at the exotic Twisted Watchwork Portal Device Recipe.

Seismic Leap: Fixed a bug so that this skill will now properly be a blast combo finisher.

Rampage—Dash: Fixed a bug that allowed the character to move further than intended.

Whirling Axe: Updated the skill fact to include a radius.

Banner of Discipline, Banner of Strength, Banner of Defense, and Battle Standard: Updated these skills to properly display their duration. Battle Standard now displays the casting range of the skill.

Banner—Sprint: This skill will now properly strike a target when it reaches the target while underwater.

Kill Shot: Fixed a bug so that this skill will no longer drain the energy of a target that reflects it.

Racial:

Asura

Pain Inverter: Replaced the range skill fact with a radius one to more accurately reflect the skill’s function.

Structured Player vs. Player

Minimap is now always centered and cannot be panned or zoomed.

Secondary objective icons for tournament maps have been repainted for clarity.

Map art for tournament maps have been repainted for clarity.

Downed icons no longer overlap profession icons.

Spectate camera icons no longer steal mouse focus from capture point icons when not visible.

Profession icons are now a fixed size regardless of map zoom level.

Player icons now show names in their tooltip.

Removed the capture point text from the map.

All capture point icons now properly show their name in the tooltip.

World vs. World

The Outnumbered buff now provides a 25% boost to all WXP gained.

WXP rates have been increased across the board. All activities that award WXP should now reward much more.

The Siege Decay buff is no longer visible to hostile players.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORENew Items and Promotions

The Zodiac Weapon Skins are now available for purchase from the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. This weapon skin set is inspired by the classic Guild Wars Zodiac weapons. For one month only, until September 16, these weapon skins cost only 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket. Claim Ticket Scraps can be acquired by opening Black Lion Chests. Black Lion Chest Keys are available in the Gem Store in the Consumable category for 125 each or a pack of 5 for 450 .

Mini 3-Pack Set 2 is now available in the Gem Store in the Minis category for 300 . Open this pack to get three random minis from an entirely new set of miniatures! Each pack contains two common and one uncommon mini from set 2. Collect all 46 new minis! The Mini 3-Pack Set 1 is also still available for anyone looking to complete their set 1 collection.

The Permanent* *Twisted Watchwork Finisher is now available in the Gem Store in the Upgrades category for 500 . This upgrade gives players unlimited, account-wide access to this twisted finisher.

The World vs. World Experience Booster is now available in the Gem Store in the Booster category for 150 . This consumable grants 50% more WvW experience for one hour.

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Many of you may have noticed that today from midnight to 7:30 AM PDT (07:00 GMT – 14:30 GMT) two unfinished items were available for purchase in the Gem Store. The Custom Arena Starter Kit and the Custom Arena Time Token items are two items we are working on for a future release but they are currently only in the testing phase and do not have final art, descriptions, or pricing. Anyone that purchased either of these two items today can contact customer support to get a refund if they wish.

For those of you considering a refund: It’s likely the final price for these items, when they are released, will be very different from today. The Custom Arena Starter Kit will likely be far more expensive than it was and the Custom Arena Time Tokens will likely be cheaper than they were today. There will also possibly be ways of earning these items in game through PvP in the future as well. If you would like to hold on to the items you purchased and wait for their official release to use them, please feel free to do so, these items will work fine when Custom Arenas are added to the game in a future release.

We are sorry for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused. [Source]

UNDOCUMENTED CHANGESPlease see this thread for undocumented changes. You can help out by letting us know what changes you've come across.

LIVING STORYFlame and Frost: The RazingA hybrid army erupts through fiery portals in the Shiverpeaks. This “Molten Alliance” between dredge and Flame Legion has created an enemy powerful enough to massacre any who stand in their way. One ranch, one homestead at a time, they’re wiping out all resistance. The razing has begun.

In Flame and Frost: The Razing, the third installment in this four-part series, we meet Braham and Rox, two fervent Tyrians who believe in doing what’s right, even if it means putting themselves in danger. They’re defending the people and places they love, and they’ll need your help.

Open World

The Molten Alliance has begun spying on the people of Wayfarer Foothills, Diessa Plateau, the Snowden Drifts, the Plains of Ashford, and the Iron Marches. The Vigil have stationed collectors in these areas to reward adventurers who return logs of all data collected by the enemy.

Rumor has it that an Order of Whispers operative has been openly seeking assistance in the Black Citadel. As always, details are classified until disclosed.

The Molten Alliance has been arming units with what looks like a fused technology—the molten heat of the Flame Legion combined with the iron-forged brutality of the dredge. Adventurers are advised to stay wary when traversing near the Shiverpeak Mountains.

Those brave enough to survive against the Molten Alliance have reported seeing charr and dredge utilizing strange and new combinations of technology and magic.

More refugees located in all known camps have begun opening up about their experiences.

A Durmand Priory scholar named Aiti and her archival golem LOR-748 have moved into Lion’s Arch at the Durmand Dig Site to answer all queries regarding the Flame Legion and dredge.

The Consortium has begun construction of their refugee aid project in Southsun Cove.

The Molten Alliance’s loot tables have been updated to better reflect their shared resources.

One new area and one new point of interest have been added to Wayfarer Foothills. Another new point of interest has been added to Diessa Plateau. Players who have previously finished map completion and the Shiverpeak Explorer achievement will not need to discover these new locations in order to maintain map completion. Players who have not reached map completion in Wayfarer Foothills or Diessa Plateau, or who have not finished the Shiverpeak Explorer achievement, will need to discover these new locations.

Instances

Living Story instances telling the stories of both Braham the norn and Rox the charr have been added to the world. In-game mails and achievements have been implemented in order to aid guidance to the relevant locations. These instance locations are marked on the world map with a golden portal marker.

After completion, Living Story instances can be experienced again by speaking with the Replay NPCs stationed inside each completed instance location. In the case of Rox and Braham’s combat instances, repeatable rewards can be earned once a day per account.

Achievements

The Secret Contact achievement has been added to the Living Story achievement category.

The achievements for Braham: Help from the Legions, Braham – Eirsson, Braham – Retake Cragstead, Rox: Critical Mission, Rox – The Hatchery, and Hero’s Aid have been added to the Living Story achievement category in order to track progress in Living Story instances.

Initially, the leaderboards will feature WvW rankings, PvP player rankings, and total achievement points—something for all player types in GW2.

As of March 26th, your existing scores will silently be posted to the leaderboards while we watch for the top leaders to stabilize. These scores will take into account some of your past accomplishments/rating.

Once stable, we will display the leaderboards for players. We currently don’t have an exact date for leaderboard public release.

The data won’t be changed for your character itself, we’re simply recording it to our live website starting today and we’ll need around a week or so to get everything stable on the website, prepare for the traffic load, and ensure the data is updating at the proper intervals. The stability is purely website and database related.

The PvP and achievement point leaderboards will initially show 100 players, and then we’ll expand them to show more once launched to ensure the sites stability one chunk at a time. [Source]

World vs. World

We are happy to announce the addition of World Ranks. When you participate in World vs. World events and defeat enemy players, you will earn World Experience (WXP). When you earn enough WXP, you’ll unlock World Ranks. Every World Rank earned will come with a World Ability Point, and some ranks can even give you a new World Title. World Ability points can be spent on unique World vs. World abilities. Click here for more information on World Ranks.

Server-side culling has been removed from World vs. World. For more on the culling removal, read the blog post here.

Juvenile Pink Moas found in Brisban Wildlands can now be tamed appropriately.

Fixed a stalling bug that prevented some players from completing the Keg Brawl Kegmaster achievement.

Cursed Shore: Changed the objective for the giant fight at the beginning of the Promenade assault.

Angvar’s Trove Waypoint has been added to the Snowden Drifts.

Iron Marches: Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be unable to plant emblems or evidence in Sonjaw Redclaw’s event chain.

Risen Putrifiers will no longer immobilize themselves when attempting to snare players with their anchor.

Champion Risen Drake Broodmothers should now have appropriate stats and nameplate borders.

Fixed a bug that prevented players from interacting with the pipe organs in Caledon Forest and the Fields of Ruin.

Quaggans will now breathe at a normal rate, and child quaggans will sound appropriate for their age.

The volume on the Greatsaw and the Chain Sword weapons has been increased.

Contested Lyssa statues in Orr will appropriately stun and daze enemies and should no longer apply a nonfunctional “mesmerized” condition.

Enemies in Garden of Ilya have had their levels adjusted.

Orichalcum Ore locations in Southsun Cove have been moved to locations reachable by players.

The Fire Rocket skill on Charrzooka weapons obtained from karma vendors and events has been updated to inflict burning.

General

The point amounts obtainable from existing repeatable achievements have been capped as follows: Hobby Dungeon Explorer—200 points; Agent of Entropy—250 points. This change was made to support competitive PvE leaderboards and to lay the groundwork for a reward structure for total achievement points that is coming in a future update.

Fixed a bug where Map Completion tooltips on the world map would sometimes display the wrong map.

Global: Increased scaling on several events to support up to 50 players.

Automatic camera rotation while defeated will no longer restart after the camera is moved.

Lip-flap has been enabled for all voiced lines on Players and NPCs in world.

The Special Event UI can now be clicked to open up the relevant Achievement Panel.

Added missing families to the Daily Kill Variety achievement.

Fixed a bug where a player could be removed from an instance they were exploring without a party.

Fixed a bug which allowed players to commune with places of power while downed.

Fixed an issue with water movement sounds playing either too many sounds or none at all at the surface for playable races.

Players who are alone in an instance will no longer be kicked from it when they are invited to and uninvited from a party.

Character selection will now show PvE armor, PvP armor, or town clothes as appropriate, depending on what was worn last.

Fixed a bug where equipment would get destroyed when unequipped while encumbered.

The totem offerings that can be purchased at the shrines in Wayfarer Foothills now give the same benefits as other food consumables.

The “Weapon – Axe” PvP collections tab has been updated to no longer be out of order with the “Cultural Armor – Heavy” PvP collections tab.

The PvP Commando’s Helm item has been updated to use the correct model.

The PvP Gargoyle Scythe has been updated to now have staff weapon skills.

Fixed a bug that prevented players with high amounts of Hall of Monuments points from seeing the PvP Fiery Dragon Sword skin on the Hall of Monuments vendor.

Etched Wartorches and Orrian Torches no longer use trident icons.

New ascended rings from the February build now have Mystic Forge infusion recipes available.

Disabled the use of some consumable items in dungeons.

Fixed a bug with the one-time purchases on the laurels vendor that prevented some players from being able to buy these items.

Transmuting a legendary item before equipping it will no longer prevent players from getting the achievement.

Fixed a bug that caused several Half-Eaten weapons to give an inappropriate amount of bonus attributes for their level.

Fixed a bug that prevented some weapon sigils from functioning underwater.

Fixed a bug that prevented the Skale Venom consumable from working with projectile attacks.

Changed the Commander’s Compendium to not be consumed if used by a character who is already a commander.

Updated Ash Legion and Order of Whispers spy kits to work while underwater.

Profession SkillsGeneral

Endurance can no longer be negative.

Conditions can no longer be transferred to creatures immune to them.

Stealth: The duration of Revealed has been increased to 4 seconds when coming out of stealth via an attack.

Added evasion duration skill facts to skills.

Pets now benefit from their owner’s agony resistance.

Reduced quickness from 100% attack speed to 50%.As we push to improve balance in both PvE and PvP, a few mechanics in the game will be receiving updates to promote fun and balanced play. In the past, quickness has granted double the action speed normally available to players. In PvP, this speed gives most players almost no chance to react to incoming abilities and allows for massive spike damage in extremely short periods of time. In PvE, the increased attack speed can trivialize a lot of content that would otherwise provide a good challenge. Therefore, we are reducing the speed that quickness allows by half of its current potential while slightly increasing the duration on player-activated skills.

The Kick skill now lunges towards the target slightly, extending the range.

Players can now use the Throw Boulder skill while moving.

Banner of Defense skill: Increased toughness and vitality granted to allies from 90 at level 80 to 170.

Banner of Discipline skill: Increased precision granted to allies from 90 at level 80 to 170.

Banner of Strength skill: Increased power and condition damage granted to allies from 90 at level 80 to 170.

Banner of Tactics skill: Increased healing granted to allies from 90 at level 80 to 170.

Bladetrail skill: Can no longer be fired at enemies behind the player.

Frenzy skill: The duration of quickness and its debuffs are now 5 seconds and 6.25 seconds when the player is affected by the Sure-Footed trait.

Racial Skills

Charr The Charrzooka elite skill no longer consumes ammunition when the player uses healing and utility skills.

Norn: Players in raven form are no longer prevented from using skills after using Wind Blast.

Structured Player vs. Player

Disconnecting from the game removes you from your roster before a match has started.

Rosters that lose their submit status opens the roster UI.

Scoreboard refreshes when players join, leave, or change teams.

Disconnecting gives kill credit to opponents.

Daily and monthly laurels can be obtained through either PvP or PvE achievements. You cannot earn additional laurels from doing both, players can simply chose to do one or the other. They will still receive all other normal daily/monthly rewards should they chose to do both PvE and PvP achievements.

Party members now show on the map while in the Heart of the Mists.

Spirit Watch:

Personal points awarded from scoring the orb have been increased from 10 to 15.

Updated the voiced line that plays whenever the orb resets.

Commune no longer interrupts itself if you interacted multiple times in a row.

Temple of the Silent Storm:

Updated the voiced lines that play whenever a meditation appears.

Commune no longer interrupts itself if you interacted multiple times in a row.

Raid on the Capricorn:

Updated the scoreboard to include a statistic for cannon hits.

Fixed the cannon to reduce camera issues that could occur while a player is operating it.

Heart of the Mists: Disabled the Wall of Champions.

World vs. World

Updated World vs. World UI screen to include a new ranking system and score breakdowns by map.

Updated Outmanned bonus to increase World XP, receive no armor damage on death, and increase experience.

Fixed areas where terrain could be exploited to gain access to World vs. World objectives by unintended means.

Aldon’s Ledge siege upgrade now successfully completes.

Ballista bonus damage to siege no longer has the chance to apply to players.

Armor and weapon vendors

Updated their positions slightly.

Updated the items and their costs for some merchants.

Sigil of Leeching no longer affects gates.

Catapult damage no longer affects rams through gates.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORENew Items and Promotions

Until April 1, 2013, it is free to transfer to all Medium population worlds! Players are still restricted to one world transfer per week, so choose wisely.

Added the Name Change Contract to the Gem Store. Each Name Change Contract can change one character’s name once. Place the Name Change Contract in the inventory of the character whose name you want to change and then double-click to activate it. Name Change Contracts are available in the Service category of the Gem Store for 800 gems each.

Added the Communal Boost Bonfire to the Gem Store. Place the Communal Boost Bonfire in the world and choose a boost to experience, karma, or magic find. Once the fire is fully stoked, anyone can interact with the bonfire to receive the chosen boost. You can increase the speed at which the fire is stoked by throwing more firewood onto it. Firewood spawns automatically when the boost type is selected. The Communal Boost Bonfire is available in the Boost category of the Gem Store for 300 gems each or 5 for 1200 gems.

Added Fused weapon skins to the Black Lion Chest. Each Black Lion Chest has a rare chance to give a Fused weapon claim ticket. Take this ticket to Evon Gnashblade in Lion’s Arch or to the Vigil Weapons Specialist at the refugee camps in Hoelbrak and the Black Citadel. Trade the ticket for one of 16 new weapon skins inspired by the fiery alliance between the dredge and Flame Legion. All Fused weapon skins are account-bound. You can preview the weapons at the Vigil Weapon Specialists even if you do not have a ticket. Open a Black Lion Chest with a Black Lion Key, available in the Consumable category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each or 5 for 450 gems.

Replaced the Hot and Featured item sections on the front page of the Gem Store with a single item carousel that shows all featured items. To scroll the carousel right or left, click the arrows on either side. To select a specific page, click its gray dot at the bottom of the carousel.

The banner carousel on the front page of the Gem Store now has page indicators at the bottom of the banners. To select a specific banner, click its gray dot at the bottom.

Selecting an item from the featured item carousel or the banner carousel will take you to that item’s category, automatically scroll down to that item, and highlight it.

In item preview, a red exclamation point now appears on an item that your character cannot equip.

Costume Brawl now stays on players up to 5 minutes when they exit a transformation to allow them to switch transformations while brawling.

Fixed some display and clipping issues with shields and back items in item preview.

Traits are no longer active during Costume Brawl.

While players are in Costume Brawl, the right-side skills are now replaced by a time-out brawl skill so players can always exit Costume Brawl.

The autocomplete drop-down no longer gets stuck on the Trading Post search bar.

GUILD WARS 2 USER AGREEMENTThe Guild Wars 2 User Agreement has been updated. As of March 26, 2013, each player is required to accept the amended agreement upon logging in to the game.The amended content is as follows:

Changed “NCsoft” to “NCSOFT” throughout.

Added content to indicate whether the specific agreement applies to an EU or Non-EU player.

Fixed a bug with dye improperly displaying on the Order of Whispers medium armor.

We’ve limited rares in mega boss chests to require the player be level 40+ to receive them. This is to keep acquiring rares consistent throughout the game; this will also help close up an exploit with newly created characters. This was accidently left out of the original update notes.

Slipstream Create a current in front of you that rapidly propels you forward and pushes back foes that enter it. 25 sec Cooldown. Knockback: 200 feet. Duration: 10 seconds.

Pistol

Magic Bullet Hit up to three foes with a single shot. The first target is blindedstunned, the second is dazed, and the third is stunnedblinded. 25 sec Cooldown. 1200 Range. Physical Projectile Finish Type.Damage: 110.6759. Blinded(5s): Next outgoing attack misses; stacks duration.. Daze: 2 seconds. Stun: 2 seconds.

Illusion of Life Manipulation. Give allies Illusion of Vengeance at the target location, allowing them to get up from downed and keep fighting. Fully revives allies if they kill a foe. 3 Skill Points. 130 sec Cooldown. 900 Range. Illusion of Life(15s): You are under the illusion that you are alive.. Radius: 240 feet.

Detha’s Path: Fixed an issue with the Ghost Eater encounter where the Ghost Eater would sometimes get stuck in the trap. We also fixed an issue causing the traps to sometimes not fire and break, blocking the fight.

General

Fixed a bug with the chests that spawn for The Claw of Jormag, The Fire Elemental, and the Volcano Destroyer Boss. They are lootable once a day per character as intended.

Fixed a bug where Daily Rewards were sometimes not being granted after completing five daily achievements.

Fixed a recently introduced performance issue.

Fixed various crash bugs.

Items

Fixed a bug that caused the Legendary Warhorn Howler to become soul bound without equipping it.

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580MBLIVING STORYFlame and Frost: The Gathering StormThe situation is getting worse for the citizens of Wayfarer Foothills and Diessa Plateau. Volunteers are helping to ease the burden, but more refugees are hobbling down from the Shiverpeaks. The storm there is gaining momentum, but the forces of good are beginning to rally. They’re sending their heroes to defend the land and its inhabitants. Someone must hold back the gathering storm.In “Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm,” the second installment in this four-part series, the stakes are raised, and battles rage, in the foothills of the Shiverpeaks.

Achievements

Two new achievements, The Gathering Storm and Lost and Found, have been added to the Living Story category.

Events

The refugees’ oppressors are becoming more aggressive and have shown their faces in Wayfarer Foothills and Diessa Plateau. The refugees need qualified adventurers even more!

General

Camps in Hoelbrak and the Black Citadel have become crowded. As a result, the refugees have begun moving on to Lion’s Arch.

Refugees arriving in Lion’s Arch have lost on the road precious objects from their homes. The objects will be difficult to find, but the refugees are more likely to tell their stories to the helpful adventurer who recovers their possessions.

All content from “Flame and Frost: Prelude” continues, and the Refugee Volunteer achievement can still be earned.

NEW FEATURES AND CONTENTAchievements

You can now select the five daily achievements from a list that you will complete to receive the daily reward.

You can now select which achievements are tracked on the right hand side of the screen through the Achievement tab on the Hero panel.

The amount of experience given for completion of daily and monthly achievements has been increased.

Added new daily achievement types.

Added new rewards to the laurels vendors in all major cities.

Ascalonian Catacombs Explorable

Many of the encounters in the Ascalonian Catacombs Explorable have been revamped, including all three final boss fights.

Event Scaling

A new test version of our advanced event scaling algorithm has been applied to four high-level, regularly played events to help us monitor the feasibility of this system in the live environment. This new scaling algorithm dynamically increases the difficulty of events by using the current system of increasing the difficulty of existing creatures, while also adding a new system that substitutes creatures of lower difficulty with different creatures as the event scales up. If successful, this system will be slowly extended to other events across the game during 2013.

Item Preview

Item preview is now available on the Trading Post. Simply right-click the item you want to preview and then select Preview. The preview panel will open, showing your character with the item equipped.

When previewing weapons, you may now choose to show the weapon stowed, wielded, or by itself. Use the check boxes at the bottom left of the preview panel to change the view.

Credit for killing creatures is now easier to receive in situations when many players are attacking a single target.

Increased the loot rewards on many world boss chests, including the chests in Orr temples and the dragon chests.

Fixed a bug on certain world boss chests that was causing them to drop fewer rewards than intended. These chests can now only be looted once per day, to encourage players to fight multiple bosses and spread out across the world.

Introduced five new stat combos on Ascended Rings and Amulets, which can be found in the usual locations for these items.

[The Ascended Rings and Amulets] are mainly earned through guild content, we included them on the laurels vendor to give players the opportunity to earn them if they are not in a guild but they are priced high to encourage players to try and accomplish them via the guild content. [Source]

BALANCE, BUG-FIXING, POLISHWorld PolishGeneral

Updated skillsets for several krait and undead creatures to make them more entertaining to fight.

Daily achievement tracker now preserves expansion state.

Changed the way monsters react to players using stealth.

Eased the restrictions on global leash time.

Fixed a bug that caused loot chests to spawn incorrectly during group play. Loot chests are now created for items of rarity “rare” and above.

Fixed a bug where equipment would be destroyed when the player unequips it while encumbered.

Fixed a bug where backpack pieces on players in transformations would render at an incorrect location.

Fixed most cases of a bug where players would be stuck auto-running when attempting to pick up a bundle.

Carmel, the karma merchant in Mount Maelstrom, now sells armor of levels appropriate for the region.

Added recipes to craft armor boxes and satchels for the Apothecary’s and Giver’s armor sets.

The door blocking access to the cabbage farm in Harathi Hinterlands should no longer block access when opened.

Fixed a bug that was causing display issues with rotational achievements.

The achievement tracker now has an updated UI and behaves differently.

Lesser air elementals now have legs and a tail.

Added support for positional audio with the Mumble voice-chat application.

Events

Bloodtide Coast: Healing turrets created by Lionguard Scratchblade now vanish after 60 seconds.

Diessa Plateau: Added more fixes to the cowapult to keep it from becoming permanently unusable.

Queensdale: Fixed a bug in the “Shadow Behemoth” meta-event where the portals could become untargetable.

Malchor’s Leap: Fixed the event “Destroy corrupted eggs and stop the spread of Risen drakes” so that, after the event is successfully completed, the eggs will no longer respawn until the event restarts.

Harathi Hinterlands: Fixed a bug in the event “Defend the skritt thieves while they steal harpy eggs” so that skritt thieves are now resurrectable, and the event should restart correctly after success or failure.

Spears wielded by corrupted Sons of Svanir will no longer persist in the world after the Sons die underwater.

Timberline Falls: Fixed a bug in the “Partake in the moot” region so that passed-out drunks should no longer enter a comatose state where they ignore being splashed by water.

Story: Fixed an issue where creatures would not spawn during the fight with Zhaitan.

Twilight Arbor

Explorable: Added and modified existing waypoints.

Explorable: Removed a branch that players could stand on to exploit the final boss.

Sorrow’s Embrace

Story: Players will now teleport to a safe location if they die in lava.

Honor of the Waves

Explorable: Fixed an issue where Honor’s Claw would repeat himself when speaking of his lost sons. He has since overcome his grief and will carry on to the fight against the minions of Jormag without stuttering.

Personal Story

“Deeply Tangled Roots”: Fixed a bug where the final scene was not changing based on player choice.

“Source of Orr”: Fixed a blocking bug if players killed the Eye while it was trying to teleport away.

Items

Updated the Superior Rune of the Soldier’s sixth bonus to properly remove a condition from allies affected by the shout.

Fixed a bug where players would sometimes become rooted after cancelling meteor shower, healing rain, or similar skills.

Signets will no longer lose their passive effects when changing slots on the utility bar.

Frost Aura: Incoming damage is reduced by 10% while under the effects of this aura. Enemies are only able to be chilled by this aura once per second. This affects all frost auras.

Flame Aura: In addition to the burning condition, this aura now grants 10 seconds of might each time the player is struck. This aura can activate only once per second. This change affects all flame auras.

Illusionary Counter: The range of the reactive part of this ability is now consistent with its indicated range.

Mesmer Portals can no longer be interacted with when there is an obstruction between them and the player.

Mind Stab: This skill will now hit up to three targets.

Illusionary Riposte: The reactionary strike that occurs when this skill blocks an attack now has the correct distance of the ability instead of half the distance. Added a ranged fact to this skill.

Mirror: This healing skill now applies reflection for 2 seconds instead of 1.

The Prestige: This ability is no longer channeled and will automatically detonate 3 seconds after the ability is used.

The description of this update was pretty unclear, so let me clarify. The change to portal made it so that you can’t interact with a portal that is on the other side of a wall from you, but that a portal whose entrance and exit are on opposite sides of a wall will still function [Source]

On mind stab we are aware there are two skills with this name. We are renaming one of them for the March build but for now we did indeed buff the mainhand sword end of chain skill for slot #1 called mind stab from 1 target to 3 targets. [Source]

Protection of the Horde: This trait now functions with Jagged Horror minions.

Rending Claws: Vulnerability application from this ability have been increased from 5 seconds to 7 seconds.

Spectral Wall: This skill’s combo field will now appear where the wall is instead of on top of the necromancer.

Spinal Shivers: This ability now deals bonus damage for each boon that it removes. One boon removed deals 50% extra damage, two boons deals 100% extra, and three boons removed will grant an extra 150% damage to the ability.

Chill of Death: This trait now deals bonus damage for each boon that it removes. One boon removed deals 50% extra damage, two boons deals 100% extra, and three boons removed will grant an extra 150% damage to the ability.

Spiteful Vigor: This trait now functions with racial abilities Prayer to Dwayna and Healing Seed.

Summon Blood Fiend: This minion’s healing effect has been increased by ~80%.

Weakening Shroud: This trait now applies two stacks of bleeding to be consistent with the Enfeebling Blood weapon skill.

Well of Corruption: This skill’s icon is now the same whether or not the Focused Rituals trait is equipped.

Vengeance: Controlling a turret while using this ability will no longer prevent camera reset on death.

Healing Signet: Reduced low-level healing for this signet without changing healing at higher levels. This signet now heals for 12 points at level 2 instead of 25 and then scales up to heal for 200 points at level 80.

Racial Skills

Sylvari: Seed and Turret abilities can now be used in conjunction with one another.

Asuran Power Suit: This skill will no longer incorrectly remove other transforms from the player.

Structured Player vs. PlayerStructured PvP Tournament Changes

Two-team quick tournaments no longer cost tickets.

Tournament tickets are no longer needed and can be exchanged at the ticket merchant in the Heart of the Mists. The ticket merchant is located next to the Tournament Master.

There is now a “Join Solo” button in the tournament browser that automates a single-player tournament entry.

Other Changes

Changed the default PvP builds for new characters.

Changed the PvP daily and monthly achievement rewards to include Arcane Slivers, Crystals, and Orbs instead of Tournament Tickets.

Fixed an issue that could cause PvP glory rank vendors to not offer PvP Trident Tokens.

Fixed an issue that could cause several PvP weapons to display the wrong weapon skin.

Fixed an issue that could cause projectiles to sometimes bounce off capture points.

Temple of the Silent Storm: Changed Commune to interrupt on teleport, stealth, or invulnerability.

Temple of the Silent Storm: Fixed a bug that would prevent damage from interrupting the last few seconds of Meditation on Tranquility.

Legacy of the Foefire: Changed gates to hide their name plates when they are destroyed.

Raid on the Capricorn: Fixed a bug that would prevent players from earning Skirmisher points.

Heart of the Mists: Added a Ticket Merchant for exchanging unused Tournament Tickets.

Party members on opposite teams will no longer be able to see each other when invisible.

World vs. World

Fixed safety areas that extended too far, which could result in some players keeping their no siege/determined buff.

Changed the orange swords combat marker to show only if more than 25 people are in combat in the area.

Fixed a bug with Durios Gulch that could cause guards to spawn on the wrong team.

Fixed a bug on all Hills Keeps that could cause guards to spawn on the wrong team.

Fixed an issue that allowed NPCs with Righteous Indignation to still take condition damage.

Removed the ability to use many karma related items in WvW.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORENew Items

The Plush Charr Backpack Cover is now available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 300 gems each. This backpack cover can be applied to any PvE backslot item, or it can be converted to a permanent PvP item. This backpack cover also comes with a basic backslot item with no stats that the Plush Charr Backpack Cover can be applied to.

Added the Pink Quaggan Backpack Cover and the Tiger Charr Backpack Cover to the Black Lion Chest at a rare chance. These rare variations are available only through the Black Lion Chest. Black Lion Keys are needed to open chests and can be acquired from the Gem Store in the Consumable category.

Improvements

Nine new hair colors and six new eye colors are now available through the Total Makeover Kit and the Self-Style Hair Kits. These new hair and eye colors are winter-themed and are available only through these kits, which can be acquired from the Gem Store in the Services category. The new colors are marked with a star and can be applied to any race’s hair.

The celebration mode of Evon Gnashblade’s Box o’ Fun now has a chance to give the Dancing Spirit buff. This buff grants the character temporary access to three short dances. These dances will take up the utility slots on the skill bar, and when they are activated, your character will perform some new dance moves. The Dancing Spirit buff lasts 10 minutes, but entering combat removes the buff.

Spawning Evon Gnashblade’s Box o’ Fun immediately equips you with an adjuster bundle to allow you to pick a mode. If you lose the bundle, interact with your Box o’ Fun twice quickly to return it.

Listings for new items will now show up in the Promotions tab in the Gem Store and are now marked with a blue exclamation-point icon.

Listings for limited-time items will now show up in the Promotions tab in the Gem Store and will show how much time is left to purchase them.

Sale items will now show how much time remains before the sale ends.

Bug Fixes

Sylvari who use the Total Makeover Kit can now adjust their glow.

Fixed a bug that prevented players from resurrecting in Spirit Watch.

Fixed various server crashes.

Fixed a crash that can occur when previewing certain items

Fixed an issue with the Guild Mission activation not functioning correctly

Fixed a bug with a Guild Bounty Mission becoming blocked (not many players would have discovered this though, if any, due to the issue above)

GW2DB UpdatedAlong with the patch, we have updated Guild Wars 2 Database with the new data, including all of the new items and recipes! Clicking on the images below will take you to the listing pages.

Updated Makeover KitsHere are all of the new hair and eye colors from the Makeover Kits. Note that while some of them do look identical, there is a difference that is much easier to see in-game.[spoil]

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Fixed an issue that prevented haunted doors from properly appearing in Gendarran Fields, Kessex Hills, and Queensdale. The haunted doors on these maps will now remain open for the remainder of the Halloween event to allow players entry into the Mad King’s realm.

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Added Mad King Chests to the Mystic Forge. These chests always have Halloween items such as candy corn, Halloween crafting materials, and Halloween tonics. There’s a rare chance they may also have Halloween skins for weapons and shoulders.

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Happy Halloween! Let the trick-or-treating begin. The “Mad Kings” have dusted off their costumes and are taking to the stage, telling their jokes to make the children laugh. It’s a lighthearted holiday, and only children truly believe that the spirit of Mad King Thorn once appeared in Tyria. No one has actually reported seeing him in over two centuries. These days, he’s nothing more than a tale told to make children squeal and behave.

But, paranormal activity in Tyria is on the rise, and Durmand Priory scholars have taken notice. They’re not sure what’s going on, but they aim to find out! Something’s not right.

From October 22 through November 1, Tyria is under the shadow of the Mad King. The weeklong event will unfold in four acts, each introducing new content to explore and experience, including decorations for Tyria and the Mists, minigames, Halloween-specific dynamic events, holiday crafting recipes, and mind-blowing jumping puzzles.

Join us on October 31 (midday, Pacific Time), when we’ll celebrate the holiday pinnacle with a bang!

This is the premiere holiday release for Guild Wars 2, and we’re blasting out of the gate! Visit Lion’s Arch to begin digging into the Halloween content.

COMMERCEBlack Lion Chest Changes

Halloween items have been added to Black Lion Chests for a limited time only!

There is now a chance to get new Halloween-themed weapon skins by opening Black Lion Chests. All weapon skins are tradable.

Chain Sword Skin

Ghastly Grinning Shield Skin

Greatsaw Greatsword Skin

Grinning Gourd Rifle Skin

Scythe Staff Skin

Severed Dagger Skin

There is now a chance to get new Halloween-themed shoulder armor skins by opening Black Lion Chests. All shoulder armor skins are tradable.

Deathly Shoulderpads Skin

Deathly Avian Shoulderpads Skin

Deathly Bull Shoulderpads Skin

All Black Lion Chests have a chance to give these items, but only until the end of the Halloween events.

Get Black Lion Keys from the Consumable section of the Gem Store to open your Black Lion Chests.New Items in the Gem Store

Halloween costumes are now available in the Gem Store! These costumes are on sale until November 6th.

The Witch’s Outfit can now be purchased in the Style section of the Gem Store for 700 gems. This set of town clothes comes with 4 Costume Brawl skills and 1 companion skill.

The Mad King’s Outfit can now be purchased in the Style section of the Gem Store for 700 gems. This set of town clothes comes with 4 Costume Brawl skills and 1 companion skill.

Spooky Tonics are now available in the Gem Store! Ghost, skeleton, and zombie tonics are all on sale until November 6th.

Each tonic turns you into a spooky creature for 1 hour.

While active, tonics give you access to Costume Brawl skills.

Tonics can be found in the Consumable section of the Gem Store for 35 gems apiece or 125 gems for a pack of 5.

A set of 3 spooky minis is now available in the Gem Store! This item is on sale until November 6th.

This set includes a ghost, skeleton, and spider miniature for 500 gems in the Minis section of the Gem Store.

These collector minis are account bound and cannot be traded.

The Devil Horns town clothes hat is now available for free in the Gem Store. This item is available until November 6th.

The Phantom’s Hood town clothes hat is now available for 200 gems in the Gem Store. This item is on sale until November 6th.

Personalized Trick-or-Treat Bags are now available in the Gem Store. These items are on sale until November 14th.

Moved all existing jumping puzzle achievements from the “Explorer” category to the “Jumping Puzzles” category.

Added 4 additional jumping puzzle achievements.

Added a new “Bosses” achievement category.

The “Crash Landing” achievement has been moved from the “Explorer” category to the “Bosses” category.

Added 7 new boss achievements.

MYSTIC FORGE“The Mighty Zommoros has been caught failing to notice the generosity of those who grant him gifts. The Mighty Zommoros will now appropriately reward baubles to those who bring him offerings.”—The Mighty Zommoros

The Mystic Forge ingot-conversion recipes for bronze, copper, gold, and darksteel have been fixed to reward correct materials.

The Mystic Forge recipe for the Abyssal Scepter has been fixed to correctly award the Abyssal Scepter.

The Mystic Forge recipe for the Lidless Eye now requires 10 giant eyes.

The Mystic Forge recipe for Titans’ Vengance has been fixed to correctly award Titans’ Vengance.

The Mystic Forge recipe for the Wall of the Mists now requires 250 orichalcum shield bosses instead of powerful blood and 30 giant eyes instead of 1.

Zommoros has been reminded to give out baubles for less desirable (low-level) rare weapons.

Fixed a bug in the Mystic Forge conversion recipies for rare Glacial Ingredientsthat cause them to reward Charged Ingredients instead.

EVENTSThere is a skritt burglar on the loose in Tyria! Adventurers that encounter this thieving rodent are encouraged to confiscate whatever loot they can shake out of her.

Added over 30 events across the game.

Fixed a stuck event chain in Straits of Devastation.

Fixed a blocking bug in the event “Defend the Leaders of Caer Evermore from the Risen” in Timberline Falls.

Fixed a potential blocking bug caused by the event “Destroy the Risen broodmother to free Rakkan” in Cursed Shore.

Fixed a bug preventing Tactician Footi from setting up her cannon in Cursed Shore.

Fixed a bug preventing skritt from being driven out of Nentor’s Mine in Lornar’s Pass.

Lengthened the time between events when attempting to hold Arah and made repeated attempts at holding Arah more difficult.

Lengthened the time between events when attempting to hold the Temple of Grenth.

Lengthened the time between events when attempting to hold the Temple of Melandru and made repeated attempts at holding the Temple of Melandru more difficult.

WvW

Fixed an exploit that allowed players to occasionally teleport through walls.

Reduced the range at which players could interact with completed arrow carts.

The blue team’s start point on the green Borderlands has been changed to no longer remove allies from the area.

The Charr Land Mine is no longer usable in WvW areas.

PvP

Fixed bugs that allowed teleporting before a match starts.

Fixed bugs for getting into team bases in Legacy of the Foefire and Battle of Kyhlo.

Svanir has been updated to have slightly more health in Forest of Niflhel.

Paid tournaments will be available soon. To ensure the best experience possible, free tournaments will be used to make sure everything is working smoothly before bringing paid tournaments online. Thank you all for your patience.

GENERAL UPDATESThe Durmand Priory is currently investigating an ancient dwarven door recently unearthed in Dredgehaunt Cliffs. Meanwhile, strange reports of a caravan of shark tanks crossing the fields of Fireheart Rise are presumed to be a hoax.

Reduced amount of cinnamon dropped from nodes from 3,5 to 1,2. Cinnamon now only comes from green wood nodes.

Reduced amount of walnuts dropped from nodes from 3,5 to 1,2. Walnuts now only come from soft wood nodes.

Removed parsley and thyme from herb nodes in the Tarnished Coast and Steamspur Mountains.

Rune of the Noble (Superior): Updated drakehounds summoned by these runes to die after 60 seconds.

Rune of the Pack (Major and Superior): This upgrade’s on-hit effect now works properly.
STORY

The story step “Estate of Decay” has been updated to make door interaction more consistent.

The story step “Mightier than the Sword” has been fixed so that using the mesmer elite skill Moa Morph on Steag will not prevent progress.

The story step “The Battle of Fort Trinity” has been fixed to avoid a problem that could prevent progress in co-op mode. A problem that could prevent progress while defending the gate has been also been fixed.

The story step “The Blossom of Youth” has been fixed to avoid a problem where bypassing a section could prevent progress.

The story step “The Hatchery” has been fixed to avoid a problem that could prevent progress.

The story step “Trading Trickery” has been fixed to avoid a problem that could prevent progress.

DUNGEONSDungeons now award karma on completion. The first-time karma reward for completing the story of a dungeon is larger than subsequent story runs. The first time per day a player completes an explorable path for a dungeon, the karma reward equals (Player Level) * 23.5. For the rest of the day, subsequent runs of the same path will reward karma equal to (Player Level) * 9.5.

Ascalonian Catacombs

Fixed an area where players could get outside the map in the Flooded Temple.

Caudecus’s Manor

Gunpowder Morgan’s maximum range and damage have been updated.

Sorrow’s Embrace

Inquest Grenadiers have been reassigned to a new task; some new enemies await on the long road.

Kreutzerova will no longer prioritize a player at the dungeon entrance when first encountered.

Nokk’s Gravity Distortion now properly displays the time you are distorted.

Shukov’s golems now properly display during his event.

Shukov’s mark II golem has had its electric field updated to be a bit more dangerous now.

The lava in some areas is now behaving as lava should.

Twilight Arbor

The maximum range of Nightmare Vines has been increased.

PROFESSION

Reduced fear’s maximum stacks to 5 to prevent excessively long periods of time where players don’t have control of their character.

Updated the stability boon to stack duration up to 3 times.

Elementalist

Air Pocket: This skill no longer allows players to shadowstep out of water.

Cone of Cold: The healing gained from the this skill’s heal attribute has been increased from 480 to 780 at max level.

Earthquake: The responsiveness of skills used after this skill has been improved.

Fire Grab: This skill has had its attack angle increased.

Glyph of Renewal: This skill no longer resurrects dead allies; it only revives downed ones.

Lightning Touch: This skill has had its attack angle increased.

Magnetic Grasp: The responsiveness of skills used after this skill has been improved.

Ring of Earth: This skill now applies cripple.

Signets: All signets have been updated to function properly with the Earth Magic traits Written in Stone and Signet Mastery.

Downed State Updates

Discharge Lightning: This skill can now stack vulnerability up to 2 times.

Grasping Earth: This skill has been moved to skill 3 and given a 10 second recharge. Damage has been increased by 50%, and it bleeds enemies on every pulse. This skill can now be interrupted by other skills.

Vapor Form: This skill has been moved to skill 2, is instantly available upon being downed, and has a 20-second recharge.

Guardian

Leap of Faith: This skill’s functionality has been improved to make it more reliable.

Line of Warding: This skill is no longer able to move friendly NPCs around.

Protector’s Strike: This skill has had an exploit removed that caused it to block longer than intended.

Renewed Focus: This skill may now be used on the move.

“Save Yourselves!”: This skill has now been split between PvP and PvE. In PvE, players will notice no difference. In PvP, this skill’s boon duration has been changed to 5 seconds.

Shield of Absorption: This skill no longer blocks some friendly NPC missiles.

Symbol of Wrath: This skill’s attack has been improved by 10%.

Virtue of Courage: This skill has been updated to not apply aegis each time the user bobs in and out of water.

Thief

Assassin’s Signet: This skill has been updated to grant 15% damage for 5 attacks rather than 50% damage for one attack.

Basilisk Venom: This skill’s buff now applies for the appropriate duration of 30 seconds.

Disabling Shot: This skill can now be fired continuously at targets behind the player without the ability jumping them back toward the target. This skill now also has a cost when firing at targets behind the player.

Flanking Strike: This skill’s first attack is now unblockable.

Ink Shot: This skill no longer allows players to shadowstep out of water.

Nine-Tailed Strike: This skill has been fixed to properly provide the intended amount of initiative.

Shadow Refuge: This skill’s stealth removal tripwire has been updated to properly match the skill’s effects.

Whirling Axe: This skill has had evasion removed from the ability and has a missile-reflection effect applied to the whirl effect.

Mesmer

Arcane Thievery: This skill now appropriately removes the aegis boon rather than being blocked by it.

Confusing Images: This skill has been updated to fire at its correct distance.

Cry of Frustration: This skill’s tooltip now accurately shows that confusion it applies lasts for 3 seconds.

Mirror of Anguish: This trait no longer functions on necromancers when they have Reaper’s Protection active.

Phantasmal Warlock: This illusion’s recharge between attacks is now slightly longer.

Phase Retreat: This skill should no longer teleport players into geometry or other places they shouldn’t be getting into.

Scepter Skills: Projectile skills for the scepter have had their velocity increased by 33%.

Engineer

Elixir B: This skill’s toolbelt skill now accurately reflects only one boon being applied to allied targets.

Mine Field: This skill’s recharge has been reduced to 20 seconds.

Throw Mine: This skill is now unblockable when it detonates.

Warrior

Battle Standard: This skill no longer goes on full recharge if it’s interrupted while being activated.

Brutal Shot: This skill can now stack vulnerability up to 2 times.

Forceful Shot: This skill’s damage has been increased by about 70%, and its activation time has been increased.

Stomp: The responsiveness of skills used after this skill has been improved.

Tremor: This skill can now be activated while moving.

Necromancer

Corrupt Boon: This skill now properly removes aegis rather than being blocked by it.

Fetid Ground: This downed skill now has a Dark combo field. Its visual effects have been updated to show its actual radius.

Life Leech: This downed skill’s damage has been increased by 25%.

Spectral Walk: Removing this skill from a skill slot while it’s active will now remove all benefits gained from activating the ability.

Spinal Shivers: This skill now properly removes aegis rather than being blocked by it.

Mac Beta Client

Fixed a bug that prevented players using Apple keyboard varieties other than US English from binding the key to the left of the “1” key in the Control Options panel.

New ItemsYou can find all of the new items (included Halloween armor & weapons) listed here.

Halloween-themed Weapon SkinsThese three skins were shown in the PCGamer video that was released early this morning. (Notice that the "latern" at the end of the staff actually glows green!) You can "rent" these skins from an NPC for 150 Candy Corns or learn the exotic crafting recipes that are sold by crafting vendors for karma.

Halloween-themed MinipetsYou can buy a new minipet pack in the gem store! I was able to get a regular Minipet pack in a Black Lions Chest tonight. Can anyone confirm if you can get this in a chest, too?